Wisconsin Legislative Council
AMENDMENT MEMO
One Ea st Ma in Stre e t, Suite 401 • Ma dison, W I 53703 • (608) 266-1304 • le g.council@le gis.wisconsin.gov • http://www.le gis.wisconsin.gov/lc
Memo published: November 3, 2023 Contact: Emily Hicks, Staff Attorney
2023 Assembly Bill 370
Assembly Substitute
Amendment 1
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 370
2023 Assembly Bill 370 requires the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System (UWS)
and each Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) district board to establish a guaranteed
admissions program for applicants who achieve certain academic rankings. Specifically, under the bill,
applicants who have or will graduate from a public, private, or tribal high school in Wisconsin and are
ranked in the top five percent of their class are guaranteed admission to the UWS or WTCS institution
of their choice. Additionally, applicants who are home-schooled are guaranteed admission if they have
achieved an ACT examination score in the top five percent of all ACT scores statewide.
The bill requires school boards, charter school operators, and governing bodies of private and tribal
schools (collectively, schools) to establish a method of ranking students for the purpose of these
guaranteed admissions programs. The bill requires that this ranking method may only take into account
any of the following:
A student’s grade point average (GPA).
A student’s ACT examination score.
The coursework a student has completed.
Other measures of academic achievement or scholastic merit.
ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1
Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 retains large portions of the bill but makes several key changes.
First, the substitute amendment replaces the term ACT examination score with the term “college
entrance examination.” Under the substitute amendment, “college entrance examination” means the
ACT or a similar examination designed to test a person’s qualifications or preparedness for college
admission.
Second, the substitute amendment removes WTCS institutions from the provisions of the bill. In other
words, while the bill requires both UWS and WTCS to establish guaranteed admissions programs, the
substitute amendment only requires UWS to do so.
Third, the substitute amendment divides UWS’s guaranteed admission program into two pathways: one
that guarantees admission to any UWS institution of a student’s choosing, and one that guarantees
admission to any UWS institution except the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison).
Specifically, under the substitute amendment, an applicant who is ranked in the top 10 percent of his or
her class at the time of application is guaranteed admission to any UWS institution, except UW-
Madison; only those applicants who are ranked in the top five percent of their class are guaranteed
admission to UW-Madison under the substitute amendment. - 2 -
Fourth, the substitute amendment limits the criteria a school may use when establishing its student
ranking method. Specifically, under the substitute amendment, a school’s ranking method may only
take into account the following criteria:
A student’s GPA.
A student’s score on a college entrance examination.
A combination of a student’s GPA and college entrance examination score using a weighting
formula determined by the school.
The substitute amendment also requires that a school’s ranking method include tiebreaking criteria for
circumstances when two or more students are given an identical ranking. This tiebreaking criteria may
account for the degree of academic rigor of a student’s coursework and other measures of academic
achievement or scholastic merit. The tiebreaking criteria may also account for a student’s GPA, college
entrance examination score, or a weighted combination of the two, if any of those metrics were not
accounted for in the initial ranking.
Finally, the substitute amendment creates cut-off metrics for GPA and college entrance examination
scores, if a school’s ranking method utilizes either of those metrics. Specifically, if a school’s ranking
method accounts for GPA, a student may not be considered to be in the top five percent of his or her
class unless the student has a GPA of 3.85 or higher; a student may not be considered to be in the top 10
percent of his or her class unless the student has a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Additionally, if a school’s
ranking method accounts for college entrance examination score, a student may not be considered to be
in the top five percent of his or her class unless the student achieved a college entrance examination
score in the national 90
th
percentile or higher; a student may not be considered to be in the top 10
percent of his or her class unless the student achieved a college entrance examination score in the
national 85
th
percentile or higher.
BILL HISTORY
Representative O’Connor offered Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 on October 10, 2023. On
November 2, 2023, the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities recommended adoption of
the substitute amendment and passage of the bill, as amended, on votes of Ayes, 9; Noes, 5.
For a full history of the bill, visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
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